Direct Mail Campaigns 101

Think direct mail marketing has gone the way of the typewriter and the Rolodex? Think again. 

According to a 2020 report, direct mail is a 12-billion-dollar industry—and spending is expected to increase in the years ahead.

But the research on direct mail paints what might seem like a contradictory picture. Readers consistently say they prefer direct mail to email. This is particularly true for local businesses and nonprofits—in fact, the typical nonprofit organization receives more than 75 percent of its gifts through direct mail.

More than half of customers say direct mail is more trustworthy than other types of marketing. While emails can get deleted, stuck in a spam folder, or even sent to a “junk account,” real, physical mail is tougher to ignore.

Some businesses are seeing even higher response rates to their direct mailing campaigns today than in the 1980s.

But that’s only part of the story. Other research reveals that nearly half of all direct mail pieces are never opened due to poor design. And given the cost of direct mail, email remains more common. Marketers send more than nine times more marketing emails than they do mail pieces.

What can you conclude from this? Direct mail is still worth doing—but only if you’re willing to put in the time and planning needed to do it right, with the right printing partner.

Mail campaigns are complicated, whether you’re new to direct mail or have been sending campaigns for years. With so many moving parts, it’s easy for something to fall through the cracks.

Major ways you can improve your campaigns’ chances of success:

1. Thinking ahead
2. Defining your audience
3. Making your offer or ask emotional
4. Personalizing & measuring
5. Proof, print, & mailing
6. Assessing your results for next time

Want the full ebook, complete with ready-to-fill worksheets and checklists?

Download the Direct Mail 101 ebook here.

Or, get help from the get-go from the decades of experience you’ll find at Oregon Printing Communications, the best print shop in Dayton, Ohio, and beyond → here.